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We are coming to the end of the Hass avocado season here now and I can’t believe I haven’t shared a recipe with you using my favourite fruit/vegetable yet. Avocados are excellent for helping to lower cholesterol, keeping your heart healthy, preventing cancer and alleviating symptoms of arthritis.

They are still cheap and plentiful here at the market so I bought a kilo on Sunday. One of my favourite recipes using avocado is this Tricolor Baked Avocado. If you’ve never tried avocado cooked you should, it’s surprisingly delicious.

This is new recipe to me and I have to say it is definitely a keeper. Two of my favourite dishes fused together in a bowl. It’s a hummus and guacamole hybrid. It shouldn’t work but it does, brilliantly. And it’s quick, easy, healthy and addictive.

Perfect for a snack or late night supper when you can’t be bothered with anything complicated.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor (or use a stick blender) with a splash of olive oil and puree until smooth. You can add more oil if you need to get the right consistency. Taste and check seasoning.

Serve with raw veggies or toasted pita for dipping. You could try making your own flour tortilla or flatbread crackers by brushing them with oil, cutting into triangles with scissors, sprinkling with cumin, salt & pepper and baking at 125C for about 10 minutes until crispy.

Or just spread it on some wholemeal toast, sprinkled with sea salt. Heaven.

Just a quick post because I promised you the recipe for these last week after my first Healthy Baking with Chocolate workshop. I am in the middle of writing (and editing heavily) a speech on the relationship between food and health, particularly cancer, for the Marbella Women’s Week conference next week.

I say I. I mean we. Actually he is doing an awful lot of the editing and an awful lot of adding bits in too. It’s only a ten minute talk. I need to focus. So instead I’m writing about cookies.

Now I’m not saying you should eat these every day or anything but compared to most cookies these are much healthier.They are made with olive oil instead of butter. I use honey and maple syrup (or miel de cana) instead of sugar and the wholemeal spelt flour gives them a lovely flavour.

It’s Mother’s Day in the UK tomorrow so these are for my mum. She loves a biscuit with a cup of tea. They probably have too many bits in for her taste but it’s the thought that counts and I’ve ordered flowers in colours that match her lounge cushions and curtains so I should be safe. She does love it when things match.

Wholemeal Chocolate Chunk & Hazelnut Cookies Recipe

Makes 10-12 cookies. Vegan, wheat-free.

150 g wholemeal spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

4 Tbsp maple syrup or miel de cana

1 Tbsp honey or agave syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

a few drops of almond extract (optional)

4 Tbsp olive oil

about 70 g 70% dark chocolate, roughly chopped

60 g hazelnuts or almonds roughly chopped

Preheat oven 175 C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper

In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nuts and chocolate together well.

In a jug whisk together the oil, maple syrup/miel de cana, honey/agave, vanilla and almond extract, if using. Pour this into the flour bowl and gently mix together until just combined.

Take a tablespoon of the mix and put it on the lined tray, pressing it down slightly with your fingers. Continue with the rest of the mix leaving an inch or so in between each so they can spread. Bake for 11 minutes until just golden, leave on the tray for 1 minute then remove to a wire rack to cool. This stops them drying out. Store in an airtight container.

Red cabbage may not be your favourite vegetable. It wasn’t mine. I have always loved the colour of it though. You’ve got to love food that is such a beautiful shade of magenta. When I run past these purple and green striped fields of cabbages I can’t help but smile.

Another thing that makes me happy is the price. They are so cheap at the moment at the farmer’s market and if you have ever bought a cabbage you will know how far it goes. I mean these things go on for ever.

I use about a quarter of a white cabbage in this fridge emptying favourite Minestrone Soup that I now serve topped with a swirl of homemade basil pesto, it makes such a difference to the flavour.

You can’t really use red cabbage in that soup though, it turns everything purple. Other than using it to make my Grandad’s Pickled Red Cabbage I have never done anything exciting or blogworthy with this beautiful Brassica. Until now that is.

I found a recipe for roasted red cabbage steaks on Drizzle & Dip that immediately caught my eye. She used a different spice mix but the idea is the same and I have been wanting to incorporate Za’atar into a recipe for a while.

Za’atar is herb and spice blend popular throughout the Middle East most often made with a mix of dried oregano, thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and salt. There are other variations if you want to research it more.

It has many uses but its most common guise is to be mixed with olive oil, rubbed over flatbread dough and baked. You can also dip your toasted flatbread straight into a pot of it on the table. It can be used as a quick and easy marinade or rub for meat, fish and vegetables as well, as I have done here.

Za’atar Spice Roasted Red Cabbage Steaks

Serves 2-3 as a side dish. Vegan, gluten-free.

For the za’atar

1 Tbsp sumac (used ground cumin or coriander if you can’t find it)

1 Tbsp fresh or dried thyme

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp salt

a few grindings of black pepper

a pinch of red chilli flakes

Mix this all together and store in an airtight container.

3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 a red cabbage (or more) cut into 1/2 – 1 cm thick slices

sea salt to serve

Mix the oil with the za’atar in a small bowl. Preheat the oven to 180C and line baking sheet with baking paper.

Lay the cabbage steaks out on the baking sheet and spread the za’atar oil all over them, you may need some more oil. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes depending on thickness and serve sprinkled with sea salt.

This is the next recipe in my Sweet & Healthy series. I used to buy muesli bars all the time, I took them to work and college to snack on in the afternoon, you know when you get that craving for something sweet. The companies that make these spend millions on packaging and marketing to make you believe that they are the healthy alternative and are actually good for you.

So no true.

Nearly all of them are packed with sugar and oil or butter so that any goodness you might be getting from the fruit, seeds and nuts is completely irrelevant. You might as well buy a toffee apple with a side order of candy floss.

Making your own is really quick and easy, you have complete control over what goes in them and you aren’t paying for fake organic looking packaging and advertising campaigns with sunny farms in them. If you don’t like raisins leave them out, prefer hazelnuts to almonds then put them in instead.

Chewy Fruit & Nut Muesli Bars Recipe

Makes 8-12 depending how you cut them. Vegan, Gluten-free

1 large very ripe banana

90 g (1 cup) oats (gf)

5 Tbsp grated coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 Tbsp (1/2 cup) flax meal

1 Tbsp honey/agave syrup

4 Tbsp oat milk (or your choice of milk)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

50 g (1/3 cup) raisins

50 g (1/3 cup) sunflower seeds

50 g (1/3 cup) dried cranberries

50 g (1/3 cup) flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 175C and line a baking sheet with baking paper brushed with a little oil.

Put the chopped banana, oats, coconut, vanilla, flaxmeal, cinnamon and honey in a food processor and pulse together slowly. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Add in the rest of the ingredients and pulse together again. You can blend it really well or leave some bits chunky.

Tip the mixture out onto the lined baking sheet and shape it into a flat, even square about 1/2 cm thick with a spatula. It takes a bit of time & patience to make it even but they will be easier to cut into squares or rectangles later. Top with a few more flaked almonds and sunflower seeds and press them down a bit.

Bake for 11-13 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown. Cut into 12 squares or 8 rectangles while still warm. Leave to cool and store in an airtight container.

All of these recipes use wholemeal spelt flour or ground almonds rather than processed flours. We use coconut oil or olive oil instead of butter and use honey, maple syrup or miel de cana instead of refined sugars.

Here’s a preview of the cookies. If you are lucky I might have time to share the recipe with you next week…

I bought some lovely tender stem broccoli from the farmer’s market on Sunday. I wanted to elevate it to top billing in a dish rather than the, green vegetable on the side of something else, that it can so often be thoughtlessly demoted to.

One of the most successful recipes on my blog (as in most viewed) is a delicious broccoli as the star dish. It’s my version of an Ottolenghi recipe for Chargrilled Broccoli with Garlic, Chilli & Sweet Soy Rice Noodles. It’s still one of The Washer Up’s favourites, and mine. I don’t make it as often as I would like because chargrilling the broccoli on my striped grill pan fills the kitchen (and the rest of the house) with smoke. Our extractor fan is useless. I think it actually blows the smoke into the kitchen rather than extracting it, so I have to leave the front door open to let it all out. It might need cleaning I suppose. *Buries head in sand*.

This is a quick and easy supper or lunch dish that can be thrown together in about half an hour. That is a real 30 minutes by the way, not a Jamie Oliver 30 minutes. Which is more like 60 minutes in human time in case you were wondering.

Indian Spiced Broccoli with Yellow Lentils and Toasted Almonds

Serves 2 as a light lunch/supper with some Indian bread. Easily doubled.

Vegan, Gluten-free

2 tsp coconut oil (or any cooking oil)

about 225 g tender stem broccoli or florets

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped (deseed for less heat)

1 Tbsp minced ginger

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

125 g dried yellow lentils (or any quick cook lentil)

250 g + veg stock

salt & black pepper

a handful of chopped fresh coriander

1/2 lemon

a handful of flaked almonds (or cashews) toasted in a dry pan until lightly browned

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium high heat, add the cumin seeds & mustard seeds and cook until they start to pop. Add in the onion, garlic, chilli & ginger with a pinch of salt and cook for about 4 minutes until softened. Then add the lentils, turmeric and ground coriander stirring to coat the lentils and pour in 250 ml stock.

Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer, covered for about 12 minutes (depending on the lentils) until they are tender soft. Lay the broccoli on top of the lentils and add a good splash of veg stock, season well with salt & pepper, bring to the boil again then lower the heat and simmer, covered again for about 5 minutes until the broccoli is tender but still crisp.

Add most of the fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice and taste. Adjust seasoning as required.

Serve topped with some toasted flaked almonds, the rest of the fresh coriander and a wedge of lemon to squeeze over.

This delicious banana bread is vegan and it also has the virtuous label of no added fats. There is no butter, oils, eggs or refined sugars either. I have added one tablespoon of honey to the whole loaf but you could use agave syrup or leave it out altogether if you like.

The sweetness comes from using very ( or even over) ripe bananas and lovely squidgy Medjool dates. I made it using a combination of wholemeal spelt flour, ground almonds and flaxmeal. This makes it healthy, wheat-free, moist and tasty. You can’t go wrong really.

It is perfect for breakfast or to take to work for that mid afternoon pick me up without the guilt. It is lovely toasted and drizzled with a little honey but is just as satisfying as it is. The more mature the bananas (i.e.: blackening) the better, it makes them easier to mash and they taste more sweet and banana-y.

Mix the 2 Tbsp flax meal with 6 Tbsp warm water and leave for about 10 minutes until gooey. This is known as flax egg. Preheat the oven to 175 C and line the loaf tin with some baking paper.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, 15 g flaxmeal, ground almonds, cinnamon, baking powder, soda and salt. Then stir through the chopped dates.

Add in the mashed/blended bananas, the flax egg mixture and the honey/agave syrup if using. Mix together until combined to a stiff dough but don’t over work. Tip this into the lined tin, spread it out evenly and top with some flaked almonds, sesame seeds & flax seeds, if using, and press them down a bit.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and leave to cool completely before slicing if you can. It is easier to slice when cool.

Don’t be alarmed it doesn’t rise much but is delicious all the same. Store in an airtight container or wrapped in a tea towel somewhere cool. Toasting it comes into play if it lasts longer than a few days and has become a little stale. It brings it back to life and is enhanced even more by some of this vanilla apple sauce or honey.

Things That Made Me Smile Today

These are some photos I took back in October of the wild fennel flowers that grow alongside the road where I run with the dog in the morning. They’re delicately beautiful.

It turns out that one of the major food trends predicted for 2013 is fennel pollen. It is appearing on a lot of the most forward thinking menus used as an ingredient or garnish with fish or as an aroma (by burning the pollen over the finished plate) on many other exciting dishes. Apparently it is quite difficult to get, you can order it online and it is quite expensive.

Not here it isn’t, it’s free and growing wild at the side of the road! Rufus even likes to have a sniff as he goes down for a drink in the stream. Hilarious isn’t it.

I am definitely researching this more and will be bringing you some recipes featuring “foraged” fennel pollen at the end of the summer!

This tart is amazing. Seriously gorgeous, and it’s vegan and gluten-free. It tastes like Millionaires Shortbread with nuts in.

There is a crumbly nutty crust made with ground almonds and coconut oil then a layer of date caramel (new favourite thing) filled with toasted hazelnuts. Then it is finished off with a layer of dark and delicious chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of chopped nuts. It’s chewy, sweet, crunchy and crumbly at the same time and it has no butter no refined sugar and no flour. Do you love me?

Be warned though, it is very addictive and quite rich. Like that could be a bad thing. You have to make it just to let your friends and family know how delicious vegan desserts can be. No one would guess and they will all want the recipe.

This is one of the recipes from my Healthy Baking with Chocolate Workshop, the next one of which is on Saturday 2nd March from 5pm – 9pm at the Pepe Kitchen Cookery School in Benalmadena, Malaga.

At this workshop I will be demonstrating how to use olive oil and coconut oil instead of butter in baking as well as showing how to use wholemeal spelt flour and ground almonds instead of bleached white flour. We will also be using honey, maple syrup, molasses and dates instead of sugar for natural sweetness and oat milk replaces cow’s milk and cream.

The chocolate we use is either 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate or pure cocoa powder.

Oil a 9 inch tart tin, loose bottomed if possible. Put the ground almonds & salt in a bowl, add the maple syrup/miel de cana and melted coconut oil and use a fork to blend it together until it is well combined and resembles crumble mix, a few minutes.

Tip this into the tart tin and press it out all over the base and up the sides firmly & evenly with your fingers. Prick all over the base with a fork. Put in the fridge for a t least 20 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 175 C and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden but not too dark. Leave to cool while you make the filling.

10 Medjool dates, soaked in 120 ml (1/2 cup) warm water

2 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

a pinch of salt (Himalayan)

about 110 g (1 cup) toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Remove the stones and blend the soaked dates with the soaking liquid, melted coconut oil, salt & vanilla until smooth, thick and creamy. Stir through 3/4 of the chopped hazelnuts and then pour/scrape the mixture into the cooled tart case. Spread it out evenly with a spatula. Put in the fridge to set while you make the chocolate layer.

120 ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup/miel de cana

4 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted

50 g raw (1/2 cup) pure cocoa/cacao powder

Blend the maple syrup/miel de cana and melted coconut oil together until well combined. Add the cocoa/cacao powder and blend again, scraping down the sides if necessary, until smooth.

Pour this over the date caramel hazelnut layer and spread out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle over a little sea salt and the remaining chopped hazelnuts.

Put back in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

I thought you might like to see a little YouTube video of my Healthy Baking Workshop (savoury & sweet) that took place on Sunday morning. The next one is on Saturday 23rd March 10-2pm. Just click on the link below…..

My Favourite Soups

I am a bit of a soup freak at the moment. They are quick, easy, cheap and good for you. Lunch doesn’t have to mean a sandwich especially if you are a bit of a delicate flower like The Washer Up. Bread is not his friend, it gives him all sorts of grief that I […]

This is another one of the recipes from my party mezze workshop. We served this spicy, warming soup in little cups with teaspoons. You don’t really need a big bowl of soup as part of a buffet/mezze but a little cup is just the right amount to get you started. I put little bowls of the dukkah […]

It has turned really cold here now so soup is what I want for lunch every day and this is one of our favourites. I have actually managed to get the “caramelising onions” time down from the usual 90 minutes in most recipes to a much more realistic 30 minutes. I am always too hungry […]

Beetroot is one of those vegetables that I used to hate. It’s because of that nasty pickled stuff in the jars that leaks pink juice over everything else on your plate, contaminating it with cerise vinegaryness. Or is that just me? It turns out that unpickled freshly cooked beetroot is sweet, earthy and delicious when roasted or […]

They are busy harvesting leeks at the moment where we walk the dog in the morning. I like leeks, they have a milder flavour than onions and they don’t make you cry when you chop them. Leeks are one of those vegetables that have a strong supporting role in many dishes but hardly ever get […]